Football Espana
·12 March 2026
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois sends message of support to Antonin Kinsky

In partnership with
Yahoo sportsFootball Espana
·12 March 2026

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has revealed that he sent a message of support to Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, following his disastrous night against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday. A number of figures from the goalkeeping world have expressed their support for him.
Kinsky was a surprise choice for Tottenham Hotspur manager Igor Tudor at the Metropolitano, and things did not go well, with two of his losses of footing costing Spurs two goals in the opening 15 minutes. Combined with Micky van de Ven’s own slip, Tottenham were down 3-0, and Tudor decided to replace Kinsky with Guglielmo Vicario, the earliest Champions League substitution of a goalkeeper due to performance in history.
After Los Blancos beat Manchester City 3-0, Courtois was asked about the Kinsky incident, and revealed to Cadena SER that he had sent a message to the Spurs shot-stopper.
“I didn’t see it live because I was at a match with my son, but they wrote to me, I saw the substitution, and I sent him a message on Instagram to cheer him up. That’s tough. It hasn’t happened to me as much as it has to him, but after the Ajax match here, I also got a lot of flak…”
Shortly after the events on Tuesday, former Atletico and Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea put out a message of support on his social media for Kinsky. Peter Schmeichel was another member of the goalkeeper’s union that expressed support for him.
No one who hasn’t been a goalkeeper can understand how difficult it is to play in this position. Keep your head up and you’ll go again.
On his Instagram the following day, after de Gea’s message, Kinsky put up an Instagram story saying ‘Thanks for the messages. From dream to nightmare to dream again. See you.’

Image via IG / Antonin Kinsky
An almost unprecedented incident, much of the criticism after the game was for Tudor, making the call to subsitute him. Kinsky will forever be associated with the incident, but Tudor said after the game that his decision was made to protect his goalkeeper.









































